Ad Populum‘s takeover of Diamond Comic Distributors has been a mess, putting it nicely. Retailers have complained about changes in billing policy for orders and not receiving orders/product, while numerous publishers have said that Sparkle Pop (the company in charge of Diamond) is sending statements of goods they have sold but not the payment for those goods. Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope, and more have have stopped sending product to Diamond until they’re paid.

Joel Weinshanker is listed as the Managing Director of Ad Populum, and the company’s majority shareholder. And, when it comes to taking goods on consignment and not paying for them, there’s some history according to court filings.

Weinshanker owned former retailer Hastings which among other things had collectibles and comics as part of its retail offerings. For those who might not know the history, there’s an interesting comic connection to the folding of Hastings. In 2010, the company opened an account with Diamond, making it the largest direct market comic retailer. In 2014, it was purchased by Draw Another Circle, LLC, a company controlled by Joel Weinshanker for $21.4 million. Another subsidiary of Weinshanker’s owned 12.4% of Hastings. The company did not do well after the purchase, wracking up debt to the tune of $140 million and by October 2016, all of the stores had closed. During the bankruptcy, two companies pooled their resources to outbid a third company, much like what we saw in Diamond’s bankruptcy. After that purchase, the company was liquidated.

After the buyout of Hastings, the lawsuit mentioned below says that Weinshanker “negotiated and closed several acquisitions” despite misgivings by the senior management and the company’s Board members did stop it and that Weinshanker took actions on behalf of Hastings with no approval or meetings. One example that’s intriguing is that Weinshanker bought a distributor of sports and entertainment products including Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and then had Hastings purchase assets but inventory was never handed over and instead a consignment agreement was made. A similar deal was made with NECA, the toy and collectable company also owned by Weinshanker, that involved a transfer of cash to NECA from Hastings with no product transferred.

While doing some digging, Smith v. Weinshanker (In re Draw Another Circle.), this nugget popped up:

Taking no action while Weinshanker directed Hastings to continue operating under a sham “consignment” relationship with SPI, whereby SPI would sell inventory for Hastings on consignment, but never intended to pay Hastings the amounts to which it was entitled;

A “sham” consignment relationship with no intention to pay? While we don’t know what’s going on with Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop but there’s warning signs currently flashing bright and history that echoes to today’s situation with some of the same individuals involved.

There are talks from publishers about a class action lawsuit against Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop/Diamond to get the money owed to them, and with lack of communication of Diamond, it unfortunately might need to come to that to get what’s owed. We might be seeing the twilight moments for Diamond, a once powerhouse in the comic industry burnt to the ground.